The Invasion of Baghdad by Mongols

Taqwa Ayesh, Hend Khdier, Kamila Mohammad, and Aishah Darboe Junior Division Website

For our project we researched information on the attack of Baghdad by the Mongol Empire. The Mongol Empire attacked the Abbasid dynasty in Baghdad in the year 1258 CE. The Abbasid Dynasty had been ruling from Baghdad for five centuries by that time and had become a center of knowledge for the world. This event was a major turning point in history because after ruling for 500 years, The Abbasid Dynasty was so swiftly and suddenly destroyed, and the huge amount of knowledge in Baghdad was destroyed as well. We got the idea for our project because we wanted to do a topic that involved Islamic history as it would relate to us. We also wanted to share what we learned with others and are doing this by participating in History Day. We used many books and some online sources for our research. Our most valuable sources were the many books that we found. As we did more research, we included more information than we expected to have, and we also learned a lot more than we expected to. We each read a different book or looked at a different website and combined what we learned from our sources. We faced many challenges while researching for this project. Our main challenge was finding primary sources which was very hard to do. We also had the challenge of narrowing down our research, keeping to the word limit, and balancing our information. It is important for us as Muslims to study our history and to learn what happened to our predecessors. Our topic illustrates the downfall of a major Islamic civilization. We concluded that Baghdad suffered major losses at the hands of the power hungry Mongol Empire. We learned that history is very broad and interesting to study.

Bibliography:
Primary Sources Saunders, J. J. "The Christian Response." The History of the Mongol Conquests. London: Routledge & K. Paul, 1971. 110. Print. We found a few lines from a letter written to Hulagu Khan by Al-Mustasim, the caliph of Baghdad. We inserted these lines into our paragraph about the attack on Baghdad. "Mongol Conquests." The 1200s. Ed. Thomas Siebold. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven, 2001. 25. Print. Headlines in History. We found a description of the attack on Baghdad in this book which we included in our page about the attack on Baghdad. Secondary Sources "The Abbasid Dynasty (750-1258)." Islamic History: The Abbasid Dynasty. Religion Facts, 21 Feb. 2005. Web. 9 Jan. 2013.On this website we found information About The Abbasid Dynasty. We used this information to write about the Abbasid dynasty on one of our pages. "Accomplishments of the Abbasids." Abbasid Khilafah. Albalagh, n.d. Web. 9 Jan. 2013.We learned about the achievements of the Abbasid dynasty on this website. We used this information on our page about the Abbasid dynasty. Hull, Mary. "A Force from the East." Introduction. The Mongol Empire. San Diego, CA: Lucent, 1998. 10-11. Print. World History Ser. In the introduction of this book we found information about Genghis Khan who we wrote about on one of our pages. "The Mongol Empire." The 1200s. Ed. Thomas Siebold. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven, 2001. 22-23. Print. Headlines in History. We found more information about Genghis Khan in this book which we included on our page about him. Hull, Mary. "The Fracturing of Empire." The Mongol Empire. San Diego, CA: Lucent, 1998. 82-86. Print. World History Ser. We found in this book information about Hulagu Khan's and we used some of it on a page in our website. Saunders, J. J. "The Christian Response." The History of the Mongol Conquests. London: Routledge & K. Paul, 1971. 110-11. Print. We found some details about the actual attack on Baghdad in this book and put them on a page in our website. Polk, William R. "Islamic Iraq." Understanding Iraq: The Whole Sweep of Iraqi History, From Genghis Khan's Mongols to the Ottoman Turks to the British Mandate to the American Occupation. New York: HarperCollins, 2005. 57. Print. In this book we found the interesting information about the way the Abbasid leader was killed which we included on our page about the attack on Baghdad.

Hull, Mary. "The Fall of Baghdad." The Mongol Empire. San Diego, CA: Lucent, 1998. 85. Print. World History Ser. We found more information about the attack on Baghdad in this book which we incorporated on the page on our website. "Genghis Khan Biography." Genghis Khan Biography. Encyclopedia of World Biography, n.d. Web. 22 Feb. 2013. We found a picture drawn of Genghis Khan on this website which we used on our page about him. "Saudi Aramco World : History's Hinge: 'Ain Jalut." Saudi Aramco World : History's Hinge: 'Ain Jalut. Saudi Aramco World, n.d. Web. 22 Feb. 2013.We found a painted picture depicting Baghdad being sacked which we used in our website. "The Abbasid Caliphate 750-1258." The Abbasid Caliphate 750- 1258. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Feb. 2013. We found a picture of a map of the Abbasid Empire on this website, and we used the map on our website. "Rebuilding Bayt-Al Hikma: A New Scientific Golden Age for the Middle East." The Entrepreneurialist. N.p., 11 Mar. 2011. Web. 22 Feb. 2013. We found a picture painted of Bayt al-Hikmah on this website and used it on our website. "Top Rated." Top 10 Greatest Empires In History ~. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Feb. 2013. We found a map of the Mongol empire on this website and used it on our website. "The Last Great Nomadic Challenges." HmissbahAPWHP6 - The Last Great Nomadic Challenges. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Feb. 2013. We found another map of the Mongol Empire on this website and used it on another part of our website. Burgan, Michael. Empire of the Mongols. New York, NY: Facts On File, 2005. Print. Great Empires of the Past.We found a lot of useful information about the Mongolian Empire in this book which we used throughout our website. Doak, Robin S. Empire of the Islamic World. New York: Facts On File, 2005. Print. Great Empires of the Past.We found information about the Abbasid Dynasty in this book which we used on our website page about the Abbasid Dynasty. Mankind The Story of All of Us. History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 29 Mar. 2013.We found a short clip about Genghis Khan on this website that we used on our page about him.

Alkhateeb, Firas. "The Mongol Invasion and the Destruction of Baghdad - Lost Islamic History." The Mongol Invasion and the Destruction of Baghdad - Lost Islamic History. N.p., 18 Nov. 2012. Web. 28 Mar. 2013.We found information about the after mass of the Mongol invasion of Baghdad on this website and used it in our conclusion.